ConwayLife.com

The fan on my pentadecathlon.com server started making too much noise, which means it's about to die. I shut it down for now. I've bought a replacement fan. The repair seems to be fairly simple, so it should be back up in a week or so, depending on how long it takes to arrive. If not, then I'll try ...

If "methuselah" was Latin, then perhaps the plural would be "methuselae".

But it's not Latin (the giveaway is the final 'h'). How Semitic languages form plurals is an exercise for the student.

There are 14 17-bit oscillators for which Catagolue doesn't have a construction: xp2_35g41h54gzx3x3 xp2_j92g55hz11x3 xp2_m24g441lpz03 xp2_31a0nzwc850e xp2_31a0nzw4490ac xp2_k51h4gljzw3 xp2_35g411l4z22403 xp2_0m24gl3z2a882 xp2_3hk2060szw2251 xp2_03l0i4kz642x23 xp2_318czw315b8o xp2_0b1205jgz1140c02 xp...

Doesn't seem to work:

https://catagolue.hatsya.com/xs12_312312ko/synthesis
https://catagolue.hatsya.com/object/xs1 ... /synthesis

not found. What exactly is "textsample ... " represent? An actual working URL would be helpful as a starting point.

Related: Am I correct is assuming that there's no API to Catagolue hidden away? I would like to get the Glider Constructions for a large batch of objects, and right now it looks like I need to call up each one's page using the HTTP call: "http://catagolue.appspot.com/object/<apg>/b3s23" and then par...

There have been a number of posts lately from relative newcomers asking if a small oscillator they just encountered is known. Usually it is, but there's no easy way to know that. So its probably time to remind people about the "knownrotors.txt" file that's part of dr. It is an encoded list of oscill...

I just got a 507 error loading the forum home page. Something about Insufficient Storage. Just thought I'd pass it along in case it's not just me.

As long as the hardware functions, and no one abuses the site too much*, I do intend to keep the server up as is. If there's a problem, the best thing to do is to directly let me know about it. Don't assume I'll see a posting. (I didn't see these until tonight, for example.) I can be gone from home ...

One of the casings that support the Blinker/Bi-pole rotor. (p2 r4 3x3 .1. A.A .1.) There are at least 9 of them: x = 105, y = 11, rule = B3/S23 $b3o9b2o10b2o3b2o5b2o10b2ob2o7b2ob2obo5b2ob2obo5b2ob2o2b2o3b2ob2obo$ 13bobo9bo4bo6bobo3b2o4b2obobo6b2obob2o5b2obob2o5b2obo2bobo4bobob2o$26b 3obo8bo2bobo7bo2...

Probably the easiest thing to do would be to write a script that takes each line and emits a properly formatted SQL INSERT statement, along with a TABLE definition for the file. That file of INSERTs can be compressed and distributed. Then the receiver can just use the SQLite tools with their system'...

Okay. Turns out the numeric parser I was using was seeing the minus as part of a number. Unrecognized characters are supposed to be treated as whitespace. So the first line would start with a negative number of the first character, messing the RLE display all up. A quick fix to ignore minuses works....

the "@SAMPLE_SOUPIDS" section has single line RLE patterns without the dimensions, and beginning with a "-" character. What is the purpose of the dash/hyphen/minus? I don't see it mentioned in the RLE doc page. Is it supposed to be a marker for the missing dimensions? Also, Golly for MacOS won't dis...

The current RLE format has issues where the pattern is repetitive but does not repeat the same cell What exactly are the "issues"? Other than not being compact or pretty. Writing an RLE encoder/decoder in a new language should be an almost trivial activity, a perfect "exercise for the student" kind...

It's known: http://catagolue.appspot.com/object/xp2 ... 0703/b3s23

The only known oscillator with the rotor descriptor: "p2 r18 7x8 ..1A1A.. .A....1. 1......A A......1 1......A .A....1. ..1A1A.." (Not surprising, as there's no easy way to hang any tails or inductors off it.)

Years ago I finished a survey of all the possible ways a single Glider could collide with objects with populations up to 17 bits. So there's nothing new to find there. Reducing an object to something smaller wasn't unusual. Increasing the population count (as in this case) was fairly unusual. So any...

Sorry to hear the server is acting flakey. As mentioned elsewhere, all the software running this site is "legacy"-- not supported or maintained. Not sure why the 503 errors, other than it might be because of the forwarding needed from my actual webserver to the old PowerPC Mac that can actually run ...

Ian07 wrote:This 3G snake-to-worm has to already be known, right?

I don't list it, but I do have a 2 Glider solution--
The Carrier to Bi-Pole is new to me.

Every so often someone posts the assertion that "period 2 oscillators are not interesting". I respectfully disagree, as it all depends on the definition of "interesting." Years ago I started a project of cataloging all the parts which can be combined to make Period-2 oscillaters. Have worked on it w...

Following up on Niemiec's post that there are an infinite number of 3 Glider collisions with a concrete example. Consider the following pair of 3 Glider collisions: x=49, y=32 33bo$34b2o$33b2o$o$b2o$2o18$46bo$11bo33bo$10bo34b3o$10b3o2$46b3o$11b3o32b o$11bo35bo$12bo! In both cases the collision start...

Two Gliders to make that isolated bit has been known for a while, and is the basis for a number of components, but you do have a few new applications of it in there.

mniemiec wrote:...RLE patterns in signatures...

User Control Panel > Board Preferences > Edit display options

has a number of settings that allows one to turn down the noise.

I do think everything needs to be free. I disagree. People who put in a lot of effort should be compensated for that effort. That textbook was a non-trivial task, taking up a lot of their time. Especially producing a physical product. Why should they not get paid the equivalent of what they could h...

I'm getting a similar problem with https://conwaylife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4881 and some other recent pages. "A problem repeatedly occurred." Doesn't say what problem, and the Javascript console shows nothing. After a refresh, if I immediately hit Cmd-. and stop the Javascript from loading...

I think the Catagolue should have the ability to identify and name still lifes by Composite patterns as well as APGcode Are you volunteering to do a demonstration project doing this? Because something like this is going to be non-trivial, and require a lot of preparation. But then end result should...

Yes. I have five variations on this theme, plus another requiring 3 Gliders. x=75, y=25 2o15b2o22bo5b2o15b2o$2o15b2o21bo6b2o15b2o$2b2o3bo11b2o3bo15b3o6b2o2bobo10b 2o2bobo$2b2ob2o12b2ob2o9b2o14b2o2b2o11b2o2b2o$6b2o15b2o8b2o5bo13bo16bo$35b 2o2b2o32bo$7bo17b3o7b2o2bobo13b3o14b2o$6b2o17bo29bo16bobo$6bob...